James Taylor flubs national anthem, recovers smoothly

(CNN) — All future singers of the national anthem should pay close attention to James Taylor’s performance at Game 2 of the World Series on October 24.

If you’re going to make a mistake, this is the way to make it.

On Thursday, the musician was at Fenway Park in Boston to lead the stadium in a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But when he opened his mouth to sing, the words of “America the Beautiful” started pouring out.

Rather than “Oh, say can you see,” Taylor kicked off the song with, “Oh, beautiful …”

But the singer quickly — and rather smoothly — recovered, going straight into the correct lyrics without missing a beat.

While other singers have caught major flak for messing up the words to the national anthem at such events, Taylor did have an excuse: he was also performing “America the Beautiful” that same night during the seventh inning stretch.